Collect for Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1928 BCP)

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Collect for Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1928 BCP) examines the collect appointed in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer for March 25, "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary." The collect asks God to pour grace into the heart, because the Incarnation made known by Gabriel is ordered toward the cross, passion, and resurrection glory of Jesus Christ.

Text of the Collect

WE beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[1]

The prayer has three movements. First, it asks that grace be poured "into our hearts," so the feast is not merely commemorative. Secondly, it names how the Church knows the mystery celebrated that day: "the incarnation" is made known "by the message of an angel." Thirdly, it refuses to isolate the Annunciation from the rest of Christ's saving work, praying that the same incarnate Son bring the faithful through his cross and passion to resurrection glory.

Appointed Readings

The 1928 book appoints Isaiah vii. 10 as "For the Epistle." The selected prophecy gives the feast its Old Testament sign: the house of David receives the promise of a virgin conceiving and bearing Immanuel.

Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

[2]

The Gospel is St. Luke i. 26, the narrative named by the collect itself. Gabriel's salutation explains the collect's phrase "by the message of an angel," while Mary's consent gives the feast its devotional posture of receptive obedience.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

[3]

The appointed Gospel then identifies the child: he is Jesus, Son of the Highest, Davidic king, and ruler of an endless kingdom. The collect's christological center is therefore not a general doctrine of spiritual renewal, but the particular Incarnation of the Son.

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

[4]

The closing words of the Gospel join divine agency and human assent. The Holy Ghost overshadows Mary, the child is called the Son of God, and Mary receives the word as the Lord's handmaid.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

[5]

Prayer Book History

Francis Procter and Walter Howard Frere place the Annunciation collect among holy-day collects of Latin origin, alongside the Purification and St. Mark. Their history matters because it shows that the 1928 American book receives a long Western collect rather than a modern paraphrase.

The Collect for S. Thomas' Day dates from 1549: that of the Conversion of S. Paul is derived from the Latin: and then follow a series with a similar origin comprising those for the Purification, Annunciation, and S. Mark's Day broken only by the Collect of S. Matthias' Day which was written in 1549.

[6]

Procter and Frere also give the Latin original. The key clauses correspond closely to the English collect: grace is poured into minds or hearts, the Incarnation is known by angelic announcement, and believers are led through passion and cross to resurrection glory.

The Annunciation. "Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui angelo nuntiante Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem ejus et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur."

[7]

Edward Meyrick Goulburn adds a more specific history of the collect's earlier liturgical use. He says that the Prayer Book translators did not simply invent a new Annunciation prayer, but selected a sound older post-communion collect.

The Collect before us, like that for the Purification, is an ancient prayer, found in the Sacramentary of Gregory, and, therefore, dating at least from the end of the sixth century; but it was not formerly the Collect of the Festival.

[8]

Goulburn's explanation of the substitution is also theologically important. The Prayer Book form avoids asking help through Mary's intercession and instead prays directly for grace through Christ.

The Collect for the Feast of the Annunciation being hopelessly corrupt, since it was a prayer that we might be assisted by the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Reformers fell back upon the Post-Communion Collect, which was quite sound, and have given us a translation of it.

[9]

Theological Interpretation

The first petition, "pour thy grace into our hearts," asks for inward divine action. Goulburn interprets grace here as the working of the Holy Spirit rather than a merely external memory of the feast.

His grace, in the sense in which we are now employing the word, is nothing more nor less than the operation of His Holy Spirit in the soul; and when we say, "Pour thy grace into our hearts," all we mean is, "Let thy Spirit work there."

[10]

Goulburn then connects the collect's grace language to the Gospel announcement. The Church prays not to receive the mystery as information only, but to be changed by the Incarnation and conformed to Christ's death and resurrection.

Now what is this Collect, but a prayer that we may not receive in vain the announcement of the Incarnation - the first great act of God's grace towards man - but go on to be conformed to Christ's cross and passion, so that in the end we may be conformed to His resurrection.

[11]

The collect's phrase "the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ" is therefore the doctrinal center of the day. Goulburn treats it as a foundation truth because it confesses the union of God and man in the person of Christ.

That the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the foundation-truth of the Christian religion is clear from that passage of St. John's First Epistle, "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God."

[12]

The final petition, "by his cross and passion," keeps the feast from becoming detached from Passiontide. The Annunciation is nine months before Christmas, but in the collect the Incarnation is already moving toward the paschal mystery.

By His cross and passion in two ways. Not only by His cross and passion objectively, as the ransom of our souls, which He paid down for us, and which is altogether external to ourselves and our own endeavours - this, of course, but not this alone - but also by our being conformed to His cross and passion by the crucifixion of the old man with Him.

[13]

Liturgical Setting

The Prayer Book Dictionary summarizes the day by relating its appointed lessons and collect. Its note is useful for the 1928 article because the American book retains the same basic pattern of Isaiah vii, Luke i, and a collect that turns from Incarnation to resurrection through the cross.

The Epistle for the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is taken from the OT (Is. 7 10-15): the sign given to Ahaz is prophetic of the supernatural birth of the Messiah. The Gospel (Luke 1 26-38) is the account of the visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, his announcement that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, and the Virgin's humble acceptance of the Will of God.

[14]

The same entry states the collect's distinctive turn from the angelic message to Christ's cross and resurrection. That observation helps explain why the prayer is especially fitting when March 25 falls in Lent.

The Collect for the Festival, influenced no doubt by its position in the Lenten Season, turns our thoughts from the message of the Incarnation to the glory of the Resurrection, to which we pray to be brought by the Cross and Passion of Jesus Christ.

[15]

John Henry Blunt's annotated Prayer Book gives an additional historical and theological note about the date. He connects March 25 with Christmas and stresses that Gabriel's salutation, however later misused, remains scriptural speech from God.

If our Blessed Lord's Nativity occurred on the 25th of December, as there are sound chronological reasons for supposing, this may be taken as the true time when the angel Gabriel first gave to the Church the words, "Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women"; words which have been associated with errors in doctrine and practice, but which are still words that come from God.

[16]

Summary

The Annunciation collect is a compact Anglican confession of the Incarnation in its saving order. Isaiah supplies the sign of Immanuel; Luke gives Gabriel's message and Mary's faithful reception; the collect asks that this known mystery become inward grace. Its final clause then carries the worshipper from March 25 toward Good Friday and Easter: the Son made known by the angel brings his people, by his cross and passion, to the glory of his resurrection.

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, identified here as the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, "The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels," exact prayer "Collect for Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," under "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary," March 25, printed p. 235; 1928 Common Prayer, "The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book". Complete collect compared word for word with the Society of Archbishop Justus transcription; the Standard Book lowercase "angel" is followed against the Society of Archbishop Justus transcription's capitalized "Angel."
  2. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary," "For the Epistle. Isaiah vii. 10," printed p. 235; 1928 Common Prayer, "The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book".
  3. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary," "The Gospel. St. Luke i. 26," printed p. 236; 1928 Common Prayer, "The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book".
  4. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary," "The Gospel. St. Luke i. 26," printed p. 236; 1928 Common Prayer, "The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book".
  5. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary," "The Gospel. St. Luke i. 26," printed p. 236; 1928 Common Prayer, "The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book".
  6. ↑ Francis Procter and Walter Howard Frere, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer: With a Rationale of Its Offices, revised and rewritten edition (London: Macmillan and Co., 1907), chapter XIII, "The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels; and Proper Lessons for Sundays and Holy Days," p. 552 in the 1908 Macmillan impression; Project Canterbury transcription, "A New History of the Book of Common Prayer: Chapter 13".
  7. ↑ Francis Procter and Walter Howard Frere, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer, revised and rewritten edition (London: Macmillan and Co., 1907), chapter XIII, note 64, Latin source for "The Annunciation," p. 552; Project Canterbury transcription, "A New History of the Book of Common Prayer: Chapter 13". Latin ligatures normalized to plain MediaWiki text.
  8. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day: An Exposition Critical and Devotional of the Collects Appointed at the Communion, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 242; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2.
  9. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," pp. 242-243; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2. OCR "Eeformers" corrected to "Reformers."
  10. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 243; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2.
  11. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," pp. 244-245; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2. Punctuation normalized to ASCII hyphens.
  12. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 246; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2. Excerpt ends before Goulburn's extended argument.
  13. ↑ Edward Meyrick Goulburn, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2, fifth edition (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 248; Internet Archive scan, The Collects of the Day, vol. 2. Punctuation normalized to ASCII hyphens.
  14. ↑ George Harford, Morley Stevenson, and John Walton Tyrer, eds., The Prayer Book Dictionary (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1912), article "Saints' Days," section IX, "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 731; Internet Archive scan, The Prayer Book Dictionary. OCR line breaks normalized.
  15. ↑ George Harford, Morley Stevenson, and John Walton Tyrer, eds., The Prayer Book Dictionary (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1912), article "Saints' Days," section IX, "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 731; Internet Archive scan, The Prayer Book Dictionary.
  16. ↑ John Henry Blunt, ed., The Annotated Book of Common Prayer: Being an Historical, Ritual, and Theological Commentary on the Devotional System of the Church of England, new edition (London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1895), "The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary," p. 329; Internet Archive scan, The Annotated Book of Common Prayer. OCR punctuation normalized.
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